Proving ground
by Ridel
Summary: Resonator trainee Aless was not thrilled about her transfer from Earth to Cybertron. Unsure of her own skill and sheltered by her Autobot partner, she is finally given the chance to prove herself, ready or not, when a rescue mission goes terribly wrong.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**

**First off, thanks for checking this out!**

**This is a repost of a previous fic. It was fairly long, and now I've chopped it up into manageable chapters. : ) **

**It was written for a fellow writer, using her OC's Spectra and Allesandera. It also includes several season 3 canon characters, and a couple of my own OC's. **

_Some stuff you might want to know before reading on._

**This story is based in the alternate Universe world of a fan fic I am currently writing called "The human element." In which **_**some**_** humans "Resonate" with Cybertronian technology. (I'm not going to get into the particulars of the whole resonance thing, because that would take too long and you'd probably get bored and leave before even getting to the story.)**

** The Decepticons have found a way to use this resonance to turn (Kidnapped, tortured, brainwashed) humans into powerful and effective weapons, Via a Resonator Exeo suit, which amps up a humans strength, agility, hearing ect. **

**Though the situation on Cybertron is deteriorating, a few Autobots have been sent to Earth to put a stop to this, and are joined by those humans who are aware of the situation. **

**(Excepting the ones who join RAAT (comic book continuity), but that's a whole other can of worms) **

**Proving grounds**** takes place about halfway through the**_** H.E.**_** timeline, and is not included in the main fic, which is Canon rather than OC based.**

**I'm not too fond of the beginning of this story, but it really does pick up later on. If you read it and like it (or hate it, or have any suggestions for improvement) then I would really appreciate a review! : ) **

* * *

She sighted along the rifle and fired, growling with annoyance when she saw the target intact and the wall behind it scorched.

The disgruntled Femm was in the shooting range, trying to take down moving targets, and having a hard time of it. She only hit about a third of them, peppering the thick wall behind with scorch marks. Usually Spectra never missed a shot. She only preformed this poorly when she had too much on her processor.

It didn't take long for the program to run itself out, and Spectra's score came up on the monitor above her firing station. She didn't even hear the door slide open.

"Nowhere near your average. Don't tell me you're losing your touch." Teased Arcee. Spectra turned to see her standing in the doorway.

The blue and silver femm didn't bother to answer, but instead turned and reset the training program.

Arcee strolled forward and activated the console in the station next to hers, pulling out her own gun and letting it charge up with the program.

"So." She said as the first targets appeared. "Magnus gave you the news huh?" She took out the first three and waited for the next one to pop up.

Spectra grazed two of the targets and growled as the third got away.

"Yes." She answered, keeping her optics trained on the firing range. The next two targets jumped out of nowhere, but she wasn't fast enough to catch them. Once again, Arcee took both out while Spectra only destroyed one.

"Any particular reason you're so upset about this?"

Spectra grimaced and shot down the next three targets, letting two get away. "Do you want the long list, or just the main reasons?"

Arcee sighed as the simulation died away and turned to her friend, stopping her hand midway to the reset switch.

"Anything really. Come on, what's so wrong about being sent to Earth?"

Spectra shoved the training gun back into its charge port harshly. "Honestly? It's not where the war is, Arcee."

Arcee cocked her head to one side. "What do you mean it's not where the war is? Earth is practically crawling with Decepticons!"

"Yes I know that." Snapped Spectra. "And I'm not saying that it's wrong to be trying to help the humans. However, I think that sending so many Autobots out there when there are still so many Decepticons here is a bit reckless."

Arcee sighed and crossed her arms over her chest plate. "It isn't news that we're outnumbered Spectra. It's because they're so overwhelmed on earth that Prime sent for backup. Optimus knows the situation better than we do. And trust me, he hasn't forgotten about Cybertron."

Spectra hung her head, defeated. What Arcee was saying was true ,but Spectra strongly believed that she was needed on her own planet. Even so, there was nothing she could do about it. Orders were orders.

"You're right. I suppose this is only a temporary assignment."

Arcee smiled and clapped her on the shoulder. "Atta girl. Besides, I hear Earth is a pretty interesting place. Where exactly did Magnus say you'd be stationed there again?"

Spectra shrugged as the two femms turned to lave the room. "Some place called Italy I think."

* * *

Three years.

It had been three years since Spectra had come to earth. She'd only really been stationed there for one, but at the end of the year had applied to stay longer. It was mostly on account of Alessandra, her Resonator partner.

They had known each other for much of her time on Earth, and had grown very close. The human would often tease her, calling her 'My older sister/alien death machine.'

Spectra didn't mind.

The girl was mid standard as far as resonance level went. But she was clever and fast. Two qualities that had gotten her and Spectra out of several sticky situations.

It was also one of the reasons why she and her Autobot partner were being transferred to Cybertron…

Spectra couldn't help but notice that Alessandra was somewhat less than enthusiastic as she packed her things. The normally upbeat girl worked quietly and methodically. Finally Spectra had to say it.

"You're not looking forward to living on Cybertron, are you?" Alessandra paused in the middle of folding a shirt and sighed.

"I don't really know. I guess I'm just nervous is all."

Spectra nodded and continued with her own packing. "You don't have to be, you know. There are plenty of other humans living there, so it's not like you'll be the only one. And I know at least a few mechs that you'll fit right in with."

Aless gave her partner a small unconvincing smile, which she could tell Spectra saw right through. Sighing, she rubbed the back of her neck absently. "So then... What's it like? Are there beaches on Cybertron?" She dared to hope.

Spectra smiled and continued packing. "Not like the ones here I'm afraid."

"And I guess all of the guys there will be Mechs huh?" Asked Aless, eyeing a fetching spaghetti strap tank top and wondering if it was worth taking.

Spectra smirked. "Like I said before, there are already quite a few Resonators there. I'm sure there are a few eye catching males among them."

"Oh... Good." Aless tossed the tank top into her suitcase, just in case_. _"You import food from Earth, right? I'll still get my morning coffee, yes?"

Spectra made a sound, approximating a cough. It was a habit she'd picked up from being around humans so long. "Not... exactly. Well yes we do, but Cybertron is a planet is considerably smaller than Earth." She explained.

"As such, humans tend to weaken physically if they stay for too long, the gravity not being Earths standard. If you leave the base you'll have to wear your Exo-suit because of its independent air supply. That's why humans are only assigned there for a year at most. So anyway, you won't find any junk food there. Only what's considered healthy fuel, and various mineral and vitamin supplements are imported. Though I'm told that some of the resonators find a way to smuggle junk food anyway. Coffee is among the things left on earth I think."

"No coffee?" moaned Aless, dropping her hands by her side. "How do the other humans survive? I'll go crazy!"

Spectra smirked again. "I don't think you're as dependant on it as you think. But just so you know, if you somehow do procure Coffee on Cybertron, I won't report you."

"Gee, thanks." Mumbled Aless, rolling her eyes.

"Thanks nothing!" said spectra, closing the box and taking it in arm. "I'm just not stupid enough to get between a caffeine addicted Human and her daily fix!"

Aless laughed and gave Spectra a real smile, before closing up her rolling luggage and following her partner out of their room.

* * *

Aless had never been through the Space bridge before, and everyone in the embarkation room seemed to have a piece of advice for her.

"Try breathing out before getting on." Suggested a middle aged man with graying brown hair. "Your first Transport is always a bit of a shock, and it's natural to gasp afterwards."

"And don't worry if you can't see straight for a while after arriving." Added the yellow and silver Autobot working the controls. He turned and gave her a friendly smile. "Apparently the trip is more disorienting for some humans then others. It should pass fairly quickly."

Aless nodded at them both appreciatively, then slowly stepped up to join Spectra on the embarkation platform. Spectra gave her a reassuring smile as they heard the hum of the Space bridge warming up.

"Say hi to the gang back on Cybertron!" Called the yellow mech as light seemed to enfold the two femms.

Aless had just enough presence of mind to breath out quickly before suddenly the dimensions of the room, and even her own body, Seemed to shift. She found it hard to describe the trip later. It had been a little painful, though not overpoweringly so. And she couldn't help but remember feeling like she and the space around her were being molded, as if she'd suddenly been turned into play-dough.

However, the sensation passed almost as soon as it had started. Aless gasped, finding herself in a room which seemed to spin like a theme park ride.

When the world came back into focus, she could see that the room they were now in looked almost exactly like the one they had just left. Only instead of the yellow mech and the middle aged human, there was a huge red and blue Autobot there to meet them.

Spectra saluted smartly.

"Autobot Spectra and Resonator Allesandera Fetucci reporting for duty sir."

Lagging a little bit behind, Aless quickly raised her arm in salute as well. The last thing she wanted was to make a bad impression on her new boss.

The huge mech smiled. "At ease you two. Welcome back Spectra."

Spectra dropped her hand from the salute and shook his. "It's good to be back, Ultra Magnus sir."

Ultra Magnus nodded to her and turned to Aless, who had been hoping she'd somehow go unnoticed during this whole thing.

"And Welcome to Cybertron Allesandera Fetucci. From what I've seen through Spectra's reports, you should fit in just fine."

Aless wasn't exactly sure what to say, so she nodded and settled on. "Thank you sir."

Stepping back, Ultra Magnus lead the way out of the embarkation room. "I have someone standing by to show you to your rooms. I believe you already know him, Spectra."

Spectra nearly groaned when the door slid open and she caught sight of the Autobot on the other side. He was orange with yellow flames painted on his chest plate. He beamed when he caught sight of them.

"Hey Spec, long time no see!"

* * *

Hotrod had offered to carry their things. Aless had no problem with this. He held her rolling luggage easily in one hand as they strolled down the corridor. Spectra however, had stubbornly refused, and continued to carry her own things.

"So spending all that time around humans still hasn't loosened you up I see." He teased.

Spectra scoffed and kept her chin high. "I wasn't there on vacation Hotrod. The resonator crises is serious business." Aless raised an eyebrow, remembering some of the long relaxing drives and such they'd had together over the years.

Hotrod smiled. "Well you must have liked something about it, cause you resisted the desire to come back to see me for two years."

Aless couldn't help it. She chuckled. Spectra shot her _a look._

"So where's Arcee?" asked Spectra, changing the subject. "I was hoping she'd be there to meet us when we arrived."

Hotrod's shoulders sagged, as if a weight had just been placed on them. "She wanted to be, but she, Springer and a couple others were all sent out on some sort of escort mission a couple ofhours before you showed up. They won't be back for a fewdays."

"Oh." Said spectra, disappointed. She'd wanted to introduce Aless to her as soon as possible. But it looked like she would have to wait a while.

"Well, here we are." Announced Hotrod, placing Aless's luggage on the floor in front of her. "The room's been modified for both humans and Autobots of course."

The door slid open and Aless saw an empty room, not much unlike the one she and Spectra had shared back on earth. It was a little disappointing.

Aless rolled her luggage inside and over to a ground level human sized cot. It was completely dwarfed by Spectra's recharge berth.

"I'll let you two lovely ladies get settled in. If you need anything, just Comm me." He gave them both a little wave then ducked out of the doorway. Aless could hear his footsteps retreating until the door slid shut on its own.

Spectra grumbled in cybertronian and began unpacking her things.

Aless smirked. "Soo..." She said as she hefted her luggage onto the cot and unzipped it. "You never told me that you had a boyfriend waiting for you on your home planet." She teased.

Spectra snorted derisively. "Trust me. Rod was just being an aft. He's hopelessly devoted to someone else."

Aless remembered the way he'd looked back in the corridor when the subject of Arcee's absence had been raised. Spectra obviously saw everything in her expression. "Arcee?"

"Bingo." Said Spectra, not turning around from her work.

* * *

**A/N**

**Thanks for reading chapter one!**

**Tune in next week, and please remember to leave a review on your way out! **

**Good, bad, ugly, I don't mind. Just **_**something**_** to let me know you read it. (Though it may not show in this first chapter, I did work pretty hard on it)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**

**Thanks for reading on!**

**You have no idea how much I appreciate it. : )**

* * *

The next day Spectra had insisted that Aless train with her for at least two hours. The girl was somewhat less than enthusiastic about this.

"But we just got here!" she whined midway through the session, firmly encased in her exo-suit. "I thought we were supposed to have one day to loaf around and get used to the place before starting up training again."

"It's important that we keep sharp Aless." Answered a slightly exasperated Spectra. "Back on earth you didn't need to deal with Decepticon resonators. Here you will. You'll find it harder to see them coming then your average mech. You're a pretty good fighter, but you could be a lot better. Now let's start again. Hit me."

Aless groaned, then tensed her muscles up, trying to figure out how best to land a blow on her friend.

When she thought she'd found it, she sped forward. Even Spectra, being naturally quick, had trouble keeping up with her on foot. Most of the time, when Aless did manage to knock Spectra down, it was because of this. However, Spectra was learning just as much about her partner.

Aless dodged behind Spectra and was about to strike, however the bot had anticipated the move and before Aless could register what had happened, she was hit. She flipped and slid a distance across the training room floor, crying out in surprise before finally coming to a stop. She lay there on her back for a few moments, stunned and staring at the ceiling. Before she had a chance to right herself, Spectra leaned over her prone form, hands on her hips.

"Okay, you want to tell me what you did wrong?" she asked. Aless groaned and sat up.

"Wasn't fast enough?" she asked. Spectra shook her head.

"Speed won't cover for your predictability." She said, Helping Aless to her feet. "Your problem is, when you find a move that works, you stick to it. You have to vary your attacks. Don't always start the same way. Understand?"

"Yes yes." Said Aless, feeling the dent in her pride. She was just glad that they were the only two in the training room.

"Alright then." Said Spectra, stepping back a few steps. "Again, hit me."

Aless sighed exasperatedly and tried to think of a new way to start her attack. The thing was, she'd never really thought of fighting in moves. She just did things. Jump out of the way when they shoot at you, when you get the chance, hit them where it hurts.

Finally a hazy sort of plan formed in her mind and she crouched down, getting ready to spring.

However, just as her legs uncoiled and lunged her forward, there was the loud panging sound of an incoming message. She stopped short of barreling into Spectra and dodged quickly to the femm's far right, just incase she used the distraction to her advantage.

The human knocked into some training equipment on her unexpected detour and was sent sprawling… Again.

Spectra sighed as the incoming message signal panged again. She reached up to her helmet and clicked her comm Unit on.

"Spectra here, go."

"Spectra, this is Ultra Magnus." Said the familiar voice at the other end of the line. "I need you and Allesandera to meet with me in the command room stat."

Spectra frowned, slightly worried. "Understood." She said, clicking her comm Off and turning to find Aless.

The girl was digging herself out from an avalanche of fallen training equipment. "Okay," She grunted. "I hope that message was worth it." Spectra sighed and once again helped her partner up.

"Come on. Magnus wants us up in control." Aless looked at Spectra, confused. That hadn't been what she'd expected at all.

* * *

When they reached the command room Aless and Spectra could see that Hotrod was already there. Along with a scarred and chipped army green mech, who Spectra recognized as Kup, and huge black mech neither of them had met before.

Magnus turned to them and nodded his head. "Well now that we're all here, we can start the briefing."

'_Wait, what?' _Thought Aless.

The room lights dimmed and a three dimensional map appeared, floating in mid air above a round holo-projector. The map dipicted a jagged landscape with a red line snaking its way through it. Aless couldn't help but feel dread. Why hadn't Spectra told her they were being sent out on a mission?

Kup, who had not been standing in line with Hotrod and the others, stepped forward and began to speak.

"As some of you may know, a few of our soldiers were sent out on an escort mission yesterday. They were to guard a transport carrying a new prototype resonator suit, which was being sent to an arms factory where it was to be mass produced."

Ultra Magnus stepped over to the display and continued.

"This new suit further amplifies a humans resonance. If an R-5 were to put one on, it could raise his level as far as R-7. Also, it gives its wearer the ability to transform, in a sense."

This immediately caught Aless's attention. "What? How?" she asked, and instantly felt sheepish, like she'd spoken out of turn. The thing was, she'd seen Spectra transform from robot mode to vehicle mode hundreds of times. It had always looked impressive, but painfully impossible in human terms.

However, the mech did not look annoyed with her interruption, and went on to answer her question. "The new suit is considerably larger than the older model, allowing for the addition of transforming parts." The projection of the map switched to a cross section of the suit in question. It was indeed bigger, and had two wheels folded to lay flat against the back of the shoulders.

"So far we can only get the design to work with one altmode. Though our scientists are working on others."

Aless watched fascinated as the suit shifted and reformed itself around the figure in the hologram. When it was done, there was left a slightly smaller human figure straddling a motor cycle.

"Nice." Commented Hotrod appreciatively. Aless had to agree.

'_I have _got_ to get me one of those.'_ She thought to herself. The image switched back to the map.

"Unfortunately," said Kup, once gain taking the wheel. "The mission went sour. About twenty minutes ago we received as SOS on Springer's channel. They were ambushed by a Decepticon raiding party about here." The green mech pointed to a spot slightly less than halfway down the red line.

"We are not sure as of yet if there were survivors." Said Magnus. Aless felt both Spectra and Hotrod tense up. "It is very probable that the cargo has been seized and is even now being transported back to Decepticon territory."

Again the picture changed. This time to some sort of ship. "One of our ships has just returned from a mission near the border of Decepticon territory. It is being refueled as we speak, and will be your transport."

"That's Quicksilver's ship isn't it?" said the huge black mech. Kup nodded.

"That's right. He's already been briefed and is just restocking before piloting this mission for you."

"Your mission is to head to the cargo transports last known location and search for survivors." Said Magnus. "There may still be Decepticons in the area so stay alert. Fallout, I'm putting you in charge. Bring our people back."

Fallout, the black mech, raised his hand and saluted. "Yes sir."

* * *

They'd been flying for maybe two hours now, if Aless was any judge. Of course, given the amount of tension she was feeling, it was possible only twenty minutes had passed.

Fallout sat in the copilot seat. He said nothing, probably going over the situation in his mind. CPU. Whatever. Spectra was sitting to her right and Hotrod sat across from them both.

The Femm had been silent ever since leaving the briefing room. Obviously a lot was weighing on her processor.

Every now and again Hotrod would try to lighten the heavy atmosphere, and fail dismally. It was hard to stay his regular upbeat self when the wellbeing of his friends was in question. Would they arrive to find them alright? Or would they find nothing but scrap metal?

The only person who did not seem upset in any way was the pilot. Aless didn't like to say, seeing as she'd only just met the guy, but it seemed to her that he had a near terminal air of permanent optimism about him. Whatever the universe threw at him, he was sure things would turn out alright. And if they didn't, well he'd figure it all out in the fullness of time.

"So, are you new to Cybertron?" he asked on her privet comm, turning around briefly to look at her.

Aless looked up, startled as the silence was finally interrupted.

"Huh? Oh yeah... Really new." She answered. The mech chuckled.

"Yeah you can always spot the new ones." He said, a good humored smile evident in his voice. "So this is your first mission here?" It was more of a statement then a question.

"It's my first _day_ here." Aless scoffed. Quicksilver sounded surprised.

"No kidding? Well we are stretched pretty thin. Fortunately for you there shouldn't be any Decepticons around by the time we get there. How are you with dead bodies?" He asked. Aless felt herself go green.

"I uh, I've never actually _seen_ one. I mean, not in real life. But I've seen mechs being worked on in the infirmary back on Earth, and that never bothered me." She was quick to add.

"Well, I'm sure everyone will be alive. The people on that team are hardly pushovers." He said. "But you know, you should probably prepare yourself just in case they're not. I know there was a human on the team. A girl about your age. So you know… It's different when a human is watching a mech open and being worked on, and vice versa. Just thought I'd give you a heads up."

'_Well thank you so much!'_ Thought Aless bitterly. But tried to prepare herself anyway.

"We're reaching the area of the escort group's last transmission." Said Fallout. "Quicksilver, I want you to land the ship here."

"Can do." Said the pilot brightly. He circled the area a few times before finally spotting a place to land among the jagged and chaotic landscape.

Fallout unstrapped himself and made his way back to the others. "Alright, it's unlikely that there are still any Decepticons lurking around, but I don't want to take any chances. Spectra, I want you and Aless to head about a half a mile to the east and approach the crash site from there. Hotrod and I will come in from the west. If you come across any Decepticons sing out. If you're outnumbered you are not to initiate combat until we arrive, understood?"

"Yes sir." Said Spectra. Her voice eerily without emotion.

* * *

The terrain looked a lot different now that Aless was on the ground. From the air, the area had looked craggy and chaotic. Jetties of dark metal and stone everywhere. In truth, what she had assumed to be rock formations were really ruins. Ruins of what had once been some sort of huge and sprawling metropolis.

Silence had hung heavy between to two companions as they walked. Aless knew that Spectra was not in a talking mood. Sill, for the sake of her stretching nerves, Aless felt like she needed some conversation.

"This isn't what I expected." She said over her exo-suit's privet comm. The words seemed to shake Spectra out of some sort of internal reverie.

"Hmm? What's not what you expected?"

"Just, all this.' Said Aless, gesturing feebly at their surroundings. "From the ship I thought this was all just rocky wasteland. But it's not."

Spectra nodded. "As far as I know this used to be a very prosperous city. But it was laid to waste long before I was brought online. It was in a bad place. Right on the borders of Autobot and Decepticon territory."

Aless looked around nervously. "I thought we were well in Autobot territory." She said. Spectra shrugged.

"Well now it's ours. But this was a long time ago." She said. "The city had already been attacked several times. More and more people were leaving every day, not wanting to be caught in a crossfire. After the last major attack no one bothered rebuilding it. It's name became synonymous with danger and no one would have dared live there anymore."

"Oh..." Said Aless. It sounded lame, even to her own ears. "So… what _was_ it called?"

Spectra opened her mouth to answer but the words never had a chance to be said. Because a poorly aimed lazer shot hit the ground between the two, and by the time Aless's mind had a chance to catch up with events she was already hiding alone somewhere in the alien rubble. She'd dodged right, away from the beam. It had come naturally. Spectra must have dodged left. Panting heavily Aless could make out the sound of their attacker bombarding the area with lazer fire.

Forcing her shaking limbs to obey, Aless crawled to her hands and knees and peered out of her meager hiding place. She could see Spectra from here. She'd dodged into the doorway of a toppled building and was trying her best to return fire. However, their unnamed assailant had her pinned down, firing round after round.

Now that she had time to collect her thoughts, Aless could see where the shots were coming from. Down the decimated street, on the roof of a five level building.

Aless didn't let herself think about what she was about to do. If she did, she was sure she'd only find a way to convince herself not to do it. Staying as low to the ground as possible, making sure she was never in a direct line of sight from the rooftop, she made her way over to the building.

The door to the building had long ago been blocked with debris. However, other collapsed buildings, some of which had obviously been much taller than her target, offered different ways up. She scrambled up the side of one of them. It lay diagonally against yet another building slightly farther away from the roof she needed to get to. It was hard to get a grip with her metal incased fingers, but finally she managed to get near the level she needed to be at.

She could see the attacker from behind now. He was green and a little bulky.

Aless drew in a shaking breath and started to charge her exo-suit's built in weapon. She'd hardly make a dent at this distance. If she wanted this guy out of commission, she was going to need to get a whole lot closer.

Her mind knew that with the added strength her resonator suit gave her, not to mention the slightly lighter gravity of Cybertron, she could make the jump from her building to his. However, her body, which had spent most of its life living by the same physical rules as most humans, was screaming _'It's a fifteen foot jump! Oh my god oh my god it's a fifteen foot jump and the ground is was way down there!'_

Ignoring her bodie's protest as best she could, Aless crouched down on the slanted surface of her building. Coiling her legs underneath her like she'd done in the training room just hours before.

'_Alright, alright.'_ She thought frantically to herself. _'One… Two… Three, GO!' _With that her legs uncoiled like springs and sent her flying over the gap. Before she knew it she'd landed heavily on the other rooftop, causing considerably more noise than she'd hoped.

The green attacker, hearing the sound and also feeling that peculiar tug any Cybertronian felt when a resonator was near by, whirled around, cursing in his own language.

Aless barely had time to roll to her feet and dodge to her left as the mech fired on her, leaving a smoking crater where she had just been.

Aless swore at herself over and over again in her mind as she took laughable shelter behind yet more rubble. Her suit's arm gun had finally reached full charge, and She was about to duck out of cover and fire, when suddenly a dark shadow fell over her.

She whirled around, gun raised, only to find herself freeze with terror as she stared up into the barrel of a gigantic Lazer rifle.

She winced and shut her eyes tightly. Her last thoughts were _'I am so slagged!'_

At least, they would have been her last thoughts, had her would be killer not stopped himself on catching sight of the red Autobot insignia shining brightly on the front of her exosuit.

"Oh…" he said in the deadpan voice of one who has just caught himself doing something embarrassingly stupid. "Well it's about fragging time you people showed up." He said, covering himself poorly.

* * *

**A/N**

**I find that the story starts to get more interesting once the mission actually starts. **

**But of course, that's just me. **

**What do**_** you**_** think so far? I'd love to know, even if you didn't really like it let me know you read it. :3  
**


	3. Chapter 3

Springer had acquired a slow energon leak during the fight with the Decepticons some hours ago. He hadn't realized it right away, when he'd left the others. But after a while it had become a very real problem. His reflexes were becoming slow, and his thinking even slower.

Aless had radioed Spectra from the rooftop and explained, in a voice higher and shakier than she would have liked, that they'd found one of the missing Autobots. Understandably, Spectra had been none to pleased with him when the three of them met up.

That had been about fifteen minutes ago, and now the green Triple changer was leading them back to the rest of his team.

As they rounded yet another dark metal outcrop, the wreckage of the cargo transport came into view. Half of the vehicle's trailer had been torn clean off.

Laying a short distance away from the wreck was a green and yellow Autobot. He was in bad shape. Wiring and complex machinery lay exposed to the thinner atmosphere as a much smaller human figure fussed over the wounds, doing what she could with the limited tools she had.

"Hey look who's back!" Said the Autobot when he saw Springer come around the corner. He sounded a little loopy, probably due to energon loss.

"Wire, quit moving!" Chided the human, pushing him back down. At least, insofar as it is possible for a human to push an Autobot anywhere.

The Autobot seemed completely unperturbed. "D'you find her?"

Springer shook his head as he walked closer. "No, there was no sign of Arcee anywhere. But on the up shot, I did run into the rescue team." He motioned to Spectra and Aless.

'_You friggin' shot at the rescue team.'_ Thought Aless, who was still feeling a little resentful about the whole incident.

Spectra, who had_ some_ first aid training, brushed past Springer and started looking over the slumped Autobot's wounds. The human girl stepped aside to let her do this.

"I'm guessing the cargo is gone?" asked the femm as she bent over him and began to work.

"What was your first clue?" Asked Springer. It was a snappy retort that came sluggishly. Aless frowned. There was something wrong with this mech. He had the look of a man in pain, and trying his best to hide it. His movements were a little jerky. Not what she was used to seeing in an Autobot's stride.

On a human, you'd probably be able to tell if something was wrong by the pallor of the skin. Autobots didn't go pail or sweat.

She looked him up and down critically. He looked in pretty good shape considering he'd been in a fight. A dent here a scratch there, but nothing serious. Then she caught sight of something worrying.

"Hey, sit down." She instructed. Springer gave her a confused and annoyed look.

"What?" he asked, once again his voice was slower and rougher than he would have liked.

"You're bleeding Energon." Said the human tersely. "I can see it seeping under the armor on your back."

Springer lifted his arm and tried his best to see what she was talking about. The girl who had been working on livewire jumped up and headed over to them. A hissing breath escaped her lips when she caught sight of the dripping energon.

"Aw crap. Come on Springer let me take a look at that." She said.

"S'just a scratch Elvy." Said the Autobot stubbornly. The girl frowned and crossed her arms.

"Let me put it another way." She said. "Either you _let_ me take a look at that wound, or I weld your aft to what's left of the cargo ship and take a look at it anyway. Your choice."

He was about to retort when Spectra's voice cut in. "Springer, slagging well do what she says." She said without turning from her own work.

The mech grumbled a few choice words in cybertronian, but complied. He sat down and allowed Elvy to remove the armor on his back. There was a considerable amount of energon smeared all over it. Elvy took in another hissing breath when she saw it.

"Gonna have trouble finding the original leak under all this. Good job spotting it" she said, nodding at Aless, then set to work. Springer would hiss and grit his teeth periodically as the girl did the best she could to patch him up.

"Wow, now there's one mech I don't envy." Said a familiar voice playfully. Fallout and Hotrod entered the crash site, coming in from a different direction than Spectra and Aless had.

The leader of the rescue team took in the scene before him. Ship down, no sign of the operators, two mechs in varying stages of repair.

"Good to see you're still functioning." He said, Turning to Livewire and Springer respectively.

"I'd be functionnonnning lot better f'people… femms didn' keep like… poking around in my wounds." Said Livewire, the energon loss making him act and sound drunk. He swatted weakly at Spectra's hand as she worked. She glared and pushed him back down, gently but firmly.

Hotrod looked around the site, what passed for his brow furrowing. "Weren't there five of you?" he asked, turning to Springer. "Where are the transport pilots? And Arcee?"

Springer sighed and related the events of a few hours previous. "The Decepticons knew about the shipment, I don't know how. They ambushed us about four and a half hours ago. We were outnumbered and they took the cargo." He sounded bitter. More towards himself then the Decepticons it seemed.

"It was a hit and run, over almost before it began. But Arcee and I managed to get a few good shots in on the ship they were escaping on. We saw it go down a few miles south east of here. When all the excitement was over, Livewire was a smoking mess, the transport pilots were dead, and I couldn't find Arcee." He grunted as Elvy applied a quick fix metal patch to the wound on his back.

"Sorry bout that." She said absently. He shook his head and continued.

"I looked all around the immediate area, but she's not here. I'm pretty sure she went to get the cargo back. Elvy was patching Wire up at the time, and I went off to find Arcee. Found them instead." He said, jerking his head in Aless's direction.

Fallout, who had been listening intently to the story, nodded. "alright, now that we're all up to speed, this is what we're going to do." He motioned over to Hotrod.

"You and I are going to carry Likewire back to the ship." He said. "Springer, you and Elvy are going to come with us. Spectra, you and Aless are going to find Arcee."

"Wait, what?" Said Aless, her heart sinking a little.

"Hey Fallout, what gives?" Said Springer getting to his feet. Albeit with a small amount of shaking. "The kid patched me up, I'm good to go. Why do you want me back at the ship and not looking for Arcee?"

"Springer, if you're right and Arcee has gone after the cargo, then there's a good chance we'll only catch up to her when she's already close to the Decepticon crash site." said Spectra, standing up and stepping away from Livewire.

"In the event of a fight that patch Elvy put on you won't last. Not to mention that you've already lost more energon than is safe."

Springer sent her a sour look as Fallout continued. "Once we get the wounded back to the ship, we'll come and join you. If you come across any Decepticons do not initiate conflict. Wait until we contact you from the ship, then give us your position and situation. Is that clear for everyone?"

There were general riffs on the theme of 'yes sir' from the group. Aless felt the dread she'd felt before, which had dissipated a little on finding most of the Autobot's they'd been searching for, returning.

* * *

Despite the slightly chaotic nature of the terrain, Spectra saw fit to travel in Altmode. She had yet to reacquire a Cybertronian alt, and so the Lamborghini V12 and her girl sped on, hoping that they could find Arcee before the Decepticons did.

The situation was somewhat surreal for Aless. Not the concept of actually riding _inside _another being, which was something that often bothered humans when they first met the Transformers. Aless had gotten over that a long time ago.

What _was_ surreal, was that she was used to seeing Earth's scenery on these drives. Weather they'd been out for fun or on some small mission, it had always been on Earth. Being here made her feel out of her depth.

This wasn't her planet anymore. Now she was on someone else's turf. For the first time it really hit her how grateful she was that she had ended up coming here with Spectra, who ever since they'd met had treated her like a younger sibling, instead of under the command of some Decepticon.

Suddenly Spectra slowed to a stop, her passenger side door clicking open. "There's too much debris." She explained as Aless got out. "We're going to have to go the rest of the way on foot."

Aless sighed as Spectra Transformed back into robot mode. "Well that's okay. The silence was driving me nuts and I left all my CD's back at the base anyway."

It would have been helpful if the ship that had been shot down had still been smoking. That at least would have told them how close they were. However there was no such sign. Spectra had told Aless to keep her ears open. If they were going to run across any Decepticons, hearing them first might be the only warning they got.

As a result, Aless found herself jumping at nearly every sound. Expecting attack at any second.

'_Unless of course they were killed in the crash.'_ Her mind supplied hopefully.

She blanched internally at this. _'since when are you hopping for people to die?'_ she asked herself.

'_Well, they are Decepticons…'_ the other part of her argued. _'I mean let's face it, they're the people who are kidnapping and enslaving your race. Not to mention trying to kill you and the Autobots. Oh, for crying out loud. Just shut up and concentrate.'_

Her internal dialogue was interrupted when Spectra's heavy hand suddenly fell on her shoulder. The femm yanked her back behind a crumbling wall and motioned for her to keep quiet.

Aless gave her a questioning look. Spectra jerked her head back in the direction they had just been heading.

The human peeked around the wall just in time to see the hulking form of a Cybertronian walk past. Something told her that this huge and bulky mech was _probably_ not Arcee. Call it a hunch.

Next to him, walking like an obedient dog beside it's master, was a resonator. Aless had never seen a Decepticon Resonator before. The suit he was wearing looked decidedly more predatory than the ones Autobot resonators wore. All sleek and black, with sharp angles.

She shivered. Then caught sight of something that made her heart stop. Frantically she turned and waved up at Spectra, trying to get the femm's attention without alerting the two Decepticons.

Spectra looked at her partner, and saw that she was pointing frantically to a spot not much further ahead of them. The femm turned and saw what Aless already had seen.

There, hidden amongst the fallen archways. A splash of light pink. An Autobot femm with her back turned. It was obvious she hadn't heard the approaching Decepticons. It was also obvious that the Decepticons had not seen her yet. Though if they kept going that would soon change.

Aless held her breath as she saw Spectra silently unsubspace her gun and take aim.


	4. Chapter 4

Arcee couldn't help but jump when she heard two gun shots very close by, and again when she heard the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. Turning quickly, she peered out of her temporary hiding place to see one Decepticon and one Resonator face down on the ground. A black smoking hole in each of their heads. It didn't take her long to realize that they must have been about to walk right in on her, and that someone had prevented them doing this.

"Springer?" she hissed into the dark.

"Not quite." Arcee was stunned to see Spectra step out from behind what was left of a wall, a female resonator with her.

"Sp-Spectra?" stuttered the femm, almost not believing her optics. "How did- W-what are you doing here?" she asked.

Spectra smirked as she holstered her gun again. "Saving your aft. But what else is new?" Arcee smiled. So, a few years spent on an alien planet hadn't changed her that much.

"This is Aless by the way. My Resonator partner." Spectra motioned to the human a few steps behind her.

Aless smiled weakly and waved up at Arcee. "Hey." She said without much conviction.

She'd been trying to keep her eyes on the light pink Autobot, but she couldn't help but let them slide back to the two downed soldiers. The Decepticon she could deal with, if she didn't think to hard about it. It was the dead Resonator that was really bothering her. He wasn't bleeding. Energy weapons tended to cauterize flesh on contact. Somehow that was much worse.

Spectra was talking to Arcee again.

"Fallout and Hotrod should have gotten the others back to our ship by now. If we hang tight they'll contact us and we can give them our location. Then they'll swing by and pick us up." Arcee was already shaking her head.

"No, we can't wait." She said. "Since you're here I'm assuming you know the situation?"

"The Decepticons took the cargo, and you went running after them alone. Yes I know." Said Spectra, reprimand clear in her voice.

Arcee continued. "Well the Decepticon crash site is not too far from here. I've been watching them for a while now. Trying to think of a plan. But look, they've repaired their long range communications a short time ago, and I believe they've already radioed for a pick up. So, are you going to help me get the cargo back before it's to late, Or what?"

Spectra frowned. "Our orders are to avoid combat. But… How many are there?"

"Not counting those two," said Arcee, jerking her head in the direction of the two downed con's. "Four Decepticons and two resonators."

"Six to two?" Said Spectra flatly. "You seriously think we would stand a chance? We wait for the others and that's final."

"Spectra this can't wait!" said Arcee forcefully. "And besides, there are three of us!" She motioned over to Aless, who was trying her best to tear her eyes away from the dead bodies.

"Aless is still in training!" Argued Spectra hotly. Her protective streak shining through. "She's never been in a melee like this before. You don't even have a plan! I am not going to let her get slaughtered here."

'_She's standing right here.'_ Thought Aless, still not looking away from the body. A hazy sort of plan was forming in her mind while the femms argued.

"Spectra, for Primus sake they are going to get _away_!" pleaded Arcee.

"Hey you guys?" Said Aless, not looking up.

Spectra shook her head, ignoring Aless. "Let them. My mission is to bring you back in one piece, and that's what I'm going to do."

"Hey!" Said Aless a little louder. This time the two femms looked down at her.

"What if I told you I had a way to lure some of them away from the ship?"

* * *

Spectra was not happy. Not happy at all. Still, it was important to get the cargo back before the cons got away. And there was a good chance that Aless's simple plan would work.

"You know, she's a brave kid." Whispered Arcee as she and Spectra got into position on the far side of the crash site.

Spectra snorted derisively. "Foolish is more like it. Trust me, it's a human thing. They are always taking on more than they can handle."

Arcee smiled sadly. The Angry tone her friend was trying to project was undermined and destroyed by the sheer amount of concern emanating from her.

"You should have more faith in her." Said Arcee gently. "After all, She'd never have gotten the Transfer to Cybertron if she hadn't proven herself capable in the past."

Spectra had to grudgingly acknowledge this. It was true that Aless was fast and clever. Some characteristics that had gotten them out of quite a few scrapes back on Earth. But she'd never 

gone one on one with a Decepticon before. She'd always had Spectra or one of the other Autobots at the Italian base backing her up. The femm couldn't help it. She'd grown quite attached to Aless over the years, and felt it was up to her to protect her.

"We ready?" Asked Arcee, bringing Spectra out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, let's get this over with." Spectra reached up to her comm. Unit and switched it on.

* * *

Aless sat on a rock, fiddling nervously with a pebble. The bodies were right in front of her. Second and third thoughts kept going through her head as she waited with mounting tension for Spectra to give her the signal.

Was this a good idea? Could she really do it? Well it was a little late now that Spectra and Arcee were already gone. Maybe they should have waited for the others. Maybe… Maybe…

"Get a grip girl." She mumbled, mentally slapping herself. "You told Spectra you could do this, and you're not backing down now." As mildly encouraging as this impromptu pep talk was, her heart still jumped into her throat when her Comm unit chimed. She clicked it on with shaking fingers.

It was Spectra's voice that came through. "Aless? Were in position. You ready for this?"

'_No.' _Aless thought bitterly. "Yeah, yeah I'm ready. Good luck you guys." With that switched off the comm. And took a slow steadying breath. Still shaking a little, she slid off the rock and took a few paces back, charging her suits arm gun.

"I can not _believe _I am doing this." She muttered as she carefully took aim. The shot would have to hit just the right spot, if she wanted the Energon in the corpse to ignite.

* * *

The moment the Explosion sounded Spectra saw every Decepticon in the site pause and look in the direction it had come from. One of the Decepticons, who seemed to be in charge, activated his comm., apparently trying to make contact with whoever had been patrolling the perimeter. He had no luck and the femms saw him take up a gun and head out, taking two Decepticons and both resonators with him. That left only two guarding the ship.

Spectra couldn't help but smirk.

"As Aless likes to say, they're not exactly the sharpest needles in the haystack."

Arcee looked confused. "I thought the expression was tools in the shed." She said, remembering some of the humans back at the base using the expression.

"Doesn't matter." Said Spectra, climbing over the edge of the slanted building they were hiding on. "Let's get those Slag heaps before they know what hit em!"

* * *

Even though she'd braced herself, the force of the explosion knocked Aless off her feet. She landed heavily on her back but quickly righted herself.

Everything in her wanted to start running right now. But that wouldn't work. She had to make sure the cons chased her if she wanted to give Spectra and Arcee enough time.

She didn't have to wait long before the first con came into view. He shouted something in Cybertronian and pointed his gun at her, but she was already gone. Cursing, he and the others gave chase.

The next ten minutes became nothing but a jumble of scrambling, screaming and narrow misses for Aless. She wasn't attempting to fight back. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that if she did, she'd be slagged. So she put all of her effort into running and climbing. The Resonators were naturally faster and more nimble than the mechs, and stayed hot on her heels the whole time.

Somehow, through the haze of panic, the thought entered her head that they reminded her of attack dogs. The way they moved was somehow animalistic. She did not want to know what the cons had done to turn normal people into these.

She'd managed to gain some ground on her pursuers. It made her feel slightly giddy. They were bigger, they were stronger, there were more of them, but she was winning.

The nature of winning in this case, was not actually killing her opponents, but surviving the chase. She'd lured them far enough away by now, Spectra and Arcee had a substantial head start in which to take back the cargo. Now all that mattered was Aless ditching her new best friends.

Which suddenly became impossible when she found herself at a dead end.

She stopped short, screaming curses at herself. She was on top of yet another slanted building. The ground was too far below and the other buildings, to far to jump to, even with the extra strength her suit gave her. She turned around sharply when she heard the sound of scrabbling feet. It was the two Resonators, clawing their way up after her. She turned back towards the buildings edge. Maybe she could climb down. Maybe she could find a way inside. Maybe, maybe…

The time for maybes ran out when she heard the familiar whine of an energy weapon charging. The sound made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She didn't bother turning around. Just stood still, her mind a hot white blank. And it was because she did not turn that she saw the ship before the other resonators did.

Aless ducked just in time as the ship flew past, causing the minimal air to tug at her body and try to pull her off her feet.

Her pursuers had not been prepared for this, and where knocked back, winded.

The ship turned sharply and traveled back over her position. Aless could see that the back hatch was open, and two figures stood in it, holding energy rifles. Seconds later, the recovering resonators were bombarded with Lazer fire. All Aless could do was stare, until finally the ship dipped low in front of her.

Hotrod was leaning out of it, offering her a hand up. "Going our way?" he asked brightly. Aless smiled a shakily and reached out, letting him pull her onboard.

The ship swung up and away.

Aless tried to catch her breath and bring her shaking under control while Fallout tried to talk to her.

"We tried to contact you and Spectra as soon as we got to the ship. But we never got a reply. We figured you might have been in trouble. Guess we were right."

"Aless," said hotrod, looking a little concerned. "Where's Spectra? Did you find Arcee? What happened?"

Aless took a long deep breath, and then related the events of the last half hour or so.

* * *

When the ship finally flew over the Decepticon crash site, they saw that the Femms weren't going to need their help after all.

Two cons lay sprawled out on the uneven ground, and the two Femms were lifting a crate out of the back of the crashed ship between them. They looked up as Quicksilver brought the ship low, once again not touching ground but hovering just high enough for the femms to climb onboard.

It had all happened over an hour ago. Fallout had berated Spectra for not following his orders, but it was a reprimand with little conviction in it. After all, they did all get away in one piece, and with the cargo no less.

Elvy was still working on Livewire, who seemed to be more stable now. She had chided Quicksilver for stunt flying while there had been an injured mech in the ship. But it had been in a teasing tone. Obviously, she livewire and Quicksilver had a history, making Aless feel out of the loop.

And they weren't the only ones. Spectra, Hotrod, Arcee and Springer were all talking animatedly with each other. About the events of the last few hours, about what had been happening while Spectra had been gone, about what she'd been up to on Earth.

Aless sat to the side, staring off into space. She'd been high strung on adrenalin not long ago. It had helped her deal with the intensity of the situation. But now there was a price to pay, and it left her drained of almost everything she had.

There had been a time in her life where all she'd needed to care about were grades, boys, friends and the like. And now look at her. How had this happened?

"Hey Aless, a little help over here?"

"What?" Asked the human, her thoughts interrupted when Spectra called her name.

The Autobot grinned. "I'm trying to explain Earth and I just can't do it. After three years there is still so much about human culture I don't understand. So, A little help?"

Aless smiled as she listened to the others talk. Filling in the blanks when Spectra left them. Elvy joined in too when she could, and the rest of the trip back was spent in companionable conversation.

Maybe Spectra had been right. Maybe she would fit in here after all.

* * *

**Really sappy ending I know. **

**Sorry about that! **

**And so, this was Ronnies prize fic. I'm still waiting for her to get back home and check it out. Hopefully she'll like it when she does. **

**So what did you think about this? **

**(I have to admit, I think I'm getting a bit of an inferiority complex because no one has reviewed this, nor many of my other fics. Not to make you feel _guilty_ or anything! XD) Though to be fair, I'm not too keen on completely OC based fics myself. **

**Still, any critique would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to find my writers voice again, (which I seemed to have misplaced about a year and a half ago.) and would really love any tips you can give. **

**And with that desperate plea, I'll end this fic off. I hope it was enjoyable! **

**Ridel**


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